Combined battery case and counterweight



Feb. 24, .1970 R. w. DANIELS COMBINED BATTERY CASE AND COUNTERWEIGHT Filed April 5, 1968 @Jdwmw United States Patent 3,497,090 COMBINED BATTERY CASE AND COUNTERWEIGHT Russell W. Daniels, Park Forest, Ill., assignor to Allis- Chalmers Manufacturing Company, Milwaukee, Wis. Filed Apr. 3, 1968, Ser. No. 718,601 Int. Cl. B65g 67/02 US. Cl. 214-38 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A combined battery case and lift truck counterweight assembly has a tapered counterweight part on its underside which fits into a cooperating pocket in the lift truck chassis. Lift fork openings are provided to permit a second lift truck to remove the battery case and counterweight assembly.

This invention relates to an improved unitary battery case and counterweight assembly for a lift truck.

In stevedoring operations, it is often desirable to utilize a lift truck in the hold of the ship to move the cargo to and from the hatchway area. Electric lift trucks have become increasingly popular for such use because of their clean operating characteristics. Heretofore, lift trucks have been lifted with ship booms from the dock into the hold of the ship. However, many ships have booms which singularly do not have the capacity to lift the desired lif-t truck into the hold. On some ships it is possible to use two cargon booms, but this is usually inconvenient. In other instances, the lift truck is partially disassembled to facilitate its being loaded into the hold of the ship. Heretofore it has been suggested that a combined battery case and counterweight assembly be provided for an electric lift truck which is removable from the lift truck as a single unit. The lift truck chassis and the battery and counterweight assembly form two separate lift loads for the ship boom. Such prior design has not proven entirely satisfactory in case of installation and removal from the lift truck, particularly as to registration of the assembly on the truck chassis and in provisions for lifting the assembly by other than a ship boom.

It is an object of this invention to provide improved battery case and counterweight assembly for an electric lift truck which is easily removable to permit the battery case and counterweight assembly and the remainder of the lift truck to be separately loaded on ships with a conventional cargo boom.

It is a further object of this invention to provide improved gui-de means for properly positioning a battery case and counterweight assembly as it is lowered onto the truck chassis.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a combined battery case and counterweight assembly which may be readily removed from an electric lift truck with a second lift truck and which may be rested on a dock or other flat support in an upright attitude.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a battery case and counterweight assembly with provisions on its underside for receiving lift forks of a lift truck employed to install or remove the assembly.

These and other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent when the following description is read in conjunction with the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view of an electric lift truck incorporating the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a rear view of the lift truck shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side view showing the battery case and counterweight assembly being removed from the lift truck by a second lift truck;

3,497,090 Patented Feb. 24, 1970 FIG. 4 is a top view of the combined battery case and counterweight assembly of this invention;

FIG. 5 is a top view of the rear of the lift truck of FIG. 1 with the battery case and counterweight assembly removed;

FIG. 6 is a partial side view of the combined battery case and counterweight assembly; and

FIG. 7 is a partial rear view of the battery case and counterweight assembly.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings, the lift truck 11 includes a chassis 12 having a flat rear platform 13 on which a combined battery case and counterweight assembly 14 rests. The chassis 12 also includes an upright plate 15 to which a seat 47 is pivotally connected. The assembly 14 includes a battery case portion 1'6 and a counterweight box portion 17, such portions having a common divider wall 18. A power battery 19 is disposed in the battery case portion 16 and removable counterweight plates 21 are placed in counterweight box portion 17.

The counterweight box portion 17 is disposed to the rear of the chassis 12 with part 92 extending to the rear beyond the rear of chassis 12. Suitable lift rings 20 are pivotally attached to the rear of chassis 12 at laterally opposite sides of rearwardly extending part 92 of the counterweight portion 17.

As shown in FIGS. 4, 6 and 7, longitudinally extending spacers 22, 23 and 24 are welded to the bottom 26 of assembly 14 and serve as counterweight along with a downwardly extending counterweight pilot part 27 which is welded to spacer 23. The pilot part 27 extends downwardly from the central bottom of assembly 14 and has downwardly converging, laterally opposite sides 28, 29 and also a rear side 31 which extends downwardly and forwardly from top to bottom. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the tapered counterweight part 27 registers with a central downward extending pocket 32 in the rear of chassis 12 defined by vertical front and rear walls 33, 34, upward and outward tapering side walls 36, 37 and a bottom wall 38. The tapered sides 28, 29 and 31 of counterweight part 27 and tapered side walls 36, 37 of pocket 32 aid in proper positioning of the assembly 14 on the truck chassis 12 as the former is lowered into place. When installed, the spacers 22, 23 and 24 of the assembly 14 rest on the platform 13 of the chassis 12 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 wherein the assembly is disposed between short side walls 41, 42 extending upwardly from laterally opposite sides of platform 13.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 5, L-shaped parts 43, 44 reinforce upwardly facing notches 46, 47 and together with the downwardly opening recesses formed by the spacers 22, 23 and 24 define a pair of longitudinally extending openings 51, 52 for a pair of forks 53 of a second lift truck 54 as shown in FIG. 3. The openings 51, 52 are substantially larger in vertical section than the forks 53 to make it easy for the lift truck operator to maneuver the forks 53 into the longitudinal openings 51, 52 between the spacers 22, 23 and 24. The vertical height in openings 51, 52 between the platform 13 and the bottom wall 26 of assembly 14 is less than that of the vertical height of openings 51, 52 at the rear of the truck. A pair of upwardly and forwardly inclined ramps 56, 57 are provided to guide the forks 53 upwardly into the vertically narrower part of openings 51, 52 at their forward ends.

The assembly 14 is readily installed on or removed from chassis 12 by a second lift truck 54. When removed the assembly 14 will rest on part 27 in an upright position. Also, the combined battery case and counterweight assembly 14 may be removed by connecting appropriate lift lines from the boom of a ship, or other vehicle, to openings 61, 62, 63 and 64 in the assembly 14. The assembly may be removed from the truck chassis without releasing any fastenings or the like, although the electrical lead lines from the battery will need to be disconnected and the seat 47 pivoted to the position indicated by phantom lines 47. The lift truck chassis 12 may be separately lifted into the ships hold by connecting the boom lines to lift rings 21 and eyes 72, only one of which is shown.

An overhead guard 73 for the operator is mounted entirely on the battery case and counterweight assembly 14 so that the lift truck can be lifted into the ship in two parts without requiring removal or disconnecting of the overhead guard. Removable pins 76, 77 releasably connect the front legs 78, 79 of the guard 73 to the front of the assembly 14 and the rear legs 81, 82 of the guard 73 are pivotally connected by releasable pins 86, 87 to the rear of the assembly 14 on a transverse axis 83. When passing through low doorway or the like, the guard can be quickly disconnected by pulling releasable pins 76, 77 and pivoting the guard to the rear. If desired, the rear pins 86, 87 can be removed to permit full removal of the guard 73 from assembly 14.

From the foregoing it is apparent that a novel and useful lift truck has been provided which readily permits separate loading of its battery case and counterweight assembly 14 and its chassis 12. It should also be noted that if the ships boom is sufficiently large enough to lift the truck 11 as one load, the boom lines need merely be connected to lift rings 21 and eyes 72. The rear lines of the lift boom will pass on opposite sides of the rearwardly extending part 92 of the counterweight thus stabilizing the truck against lateral tilting during hoisting of the truck to and from the ship.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A battery operated lift truck with a pair of rear wheels comprising:

a lift truck chassis having a rear platform with a central downwardly extending pocket therein between said rear wheels, and

a combined battery case and counterweight assembly resting on said platform and quickly removable therefrom as a unit including a longitudinally extending counterweight part extending downwardly from the central bottom of said assembly into said pocket.

2. The invention of claim 1 wherein said assembly has longitudinally extending openings at laterally opposite sides of said counterweight part adapted to receive forks of a second lift truck.

3. The invention of claim 1 wherein said counterweight part has tapered sides facilitating registration with said pocket when said assembly is lowered onto said chassis.

4. The invention of claim 1 wherein said pocket is defined by walls having upward and outward sloping walls facilitating registration of said counterweight part with said pocket.

5. The invention of claim 1 wherein a pair of longitudinally extending fork openings are provided in said chassis at laterally opposite sides of said pocket for receiving forks of a second lift truck.

6. The invention of'claim 1 and further comprising an overhead guard releasably secured to said battery case and counterweight assembly.

7. The invention of claim 1 wherein said assembly includes a pair of longitudinally extending spacers on the bottom thereof and spaced laterally from said counterweight part to provide longitudinally extending openings for receiving lift forks.

8. The invention of claim 7 wherein said counterweight has tapered sides to facilitate registration with said pocket during lowering of said assembly onto said chassis.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,259,211 7/1966 Ryskamp 187-9 3,367,441 2/1968 Schuster et a1. 68.5 3,223,259 12/1965 Nicholson.

ROBERT G. SHERIDAN, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

